A new building has been found for the aging police department. It seems perfect: centrally located, ample space, and plenty of street parking. The problem? The library is using it.

A feasibility study was conducted in 2008 that documented the need for a new Belmont police station and, according to the Capital Projects Overview Committee (CPOC) report later that year, “The Police Station Feasibility Committee, after reviewing nine sites for possible construction or rehabilitation for a new police station, recommended an adaptive reuse of the Memorial Library Building into a new police station.”

The Belmont Public Library has received a $7.5 million grant to build a new facility across the street on what is currently a high school playing field, which would allow the old library building to be renovated for the police department. However, if a replacement field cannot be found, the School Committee will likely not transfer the field’s ownership to the town. That would leave the police station on the outs. At one time, the Belmont Municipal Light Department (BMLD) building next door was considered as possible expansion space for the police department or useful for police parking. That building, though, currently houses a substation and will not be available for use until 2021, according to BMLD General Manager/CEO Jim Palmer.

Prioritizing capital projects

The police station is one of four major capital projects still to be addressed in Belmont, according to Anne Marie Mahoney, chairman of the Capital Budget Committee. She said that in 2000, the town identified its building needs in a comprehensive way.

“Now, in 2013, many of the capital needs of the town that were identified at that time have been addressed: the fire stations, the Wellington School, the Senior Center, the high school track and football field, the municipal light substation. We have whittled down the list to four major projects: the library, the police station, the DPW facility, and the high school, along with the Underwood Pool and the skating rink/White field house,” she said.

“The Capital Budget Committee has been reviewing these projects and will offer suggestions on how to prioritize them and address them financially,” she added.

Problems with current police facility

“Storage is a huge problem for us,” said Belmont Police Chief Richard McLaughlin.

Along the wall in the hallway outside the chief’s office is a lineup of Xerox machine, printers, coffee machine, water bubbler and storage cabinets. The chief’s office doubles as the only conference room. There are four officers in a room smaller than the chief’s office. There is no separate space to bring in prisoners, a so-called “sally port,” common in many stations, but rather the booking room is just across the hall from the small lunchroom.

The lab, which is used to remove fingerprints from evidence, is an old closet and doubles as a supply storage area. Most of the restrooms are 1930s era. The basement is crammed with file boxes, old computer equipment, official records, lockers, hoses, painting supplies and the phone system.

Page 2 of 2 - “The building is tired. It hasn’t been kept up the way it should be,” said McLaughlin. “It’s been maintained using a Bandaid approach,” he added.

The station was built in 1930. Some renovations were done in 1995, including a new roll call room and new men and women’s locker rooms.

The biggest space in the building is a huge basement gym, filled with state of the art equipment all donated by the Thomas Pappas Foundation. The officers are allowed to use it during their off duty time.

Estimated cost

In 2008 the library option for the new police station was estimated to cost $13 million, compared to the BMLD site cost of $18 million. The selectmen have not yet made a decision.

“The board thinks the recommendation of the CPOC have a good deal of merit. Whether we decide to move the Police Station [to the library building] at some point in the future remains unclear as many other factors will need to be worked through,” said Chairman Mark Paolillo.

“From my perspective, the high school needs to be the next major building project the town needs to consider after the library. The other building projects will need to be addressed as well at some point in time, but it is difficult at this point to outline the exact priority of buildings.”

Mike Smith, chairman of the Belmont Historic District Commission (HDC) said the police station “is another fine Georgian Revival built to resemble a colonial residence. It is surrounded on three sides by the Historic District. The HDC recommends placing both [the BMLD and police station] in the Pleasant Street Historic District.”

Smith sees the development of both buildings this way: “The Historic District Commission recommends preservation of both buildings, whether for civic uses or for private commercial and/or residential uses. The process of disposition would be similar to that for the highly successful Central and Waverley Fire Stations. A Request for Proposals would be issued and interested developers would respond.”